


What Doesn't Kill You

by Winchester_of_the_lord



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Creature Fic, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Hurt Dean Winchester, M/M, Mild Gore, Monster of the Week, Near Death Experiences, POV Castiel (Supernatural), Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 23:05:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18303602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_of_the_lord/pseuds/Winchester_of_the_lord
Summary: Cas was on his knees, cradling Dean’s head in both hands, forcefully shaking it. “Dean, you have to stay with me! You hear me? Stay with me!”This couldn’t be happening. Dean couldn’t be dying.Not now. Not today. Not like this.





	What Doesn't Kill You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for destielfreshhits April prompt code word 'monster'  
> check out the challenge on [Tumblr](https://destielfreshhits.tumblr.com/post/183807494948/monthly-writing-challenge-for-destiel-fanfics-d)
> 
> My handicap score is -3

“Dean! _Dean!”_ Cas was on his knees, cradling Dean’s head in both hands, forcefully shaking it. “Dean, you have to stay with me! You hear me? _Stay with me!”_ He was begging, his jaw clenched so hard it hurt, desperately trying to keep the barely conscious man in front of him awake. Blood oozed through his fingers holding tightly onto the limp head. Red fatality trickled across the back of his trembling hands, dripped onto the cold stone floor. “Please- _Dean.”_ It was in vain. A futile attempt.

Cas’ head nodded forward, his chin met his own chest. His eyes pressed shut. Fought against the tears seething behind his eyelids.

This couldn’t be happening.

Not now. Not today. Not like this.

“What did you do to him?” he growled through gritted teeth, pulling Dean up, pressing him tightly against his chest. Cas soothingly rocked him in his arms.

Cas snapped his head towards the dark figure leaning languidly against the railing above them, the flashing of gloating, sharp white teeth being the only thing he could make out in the blackness.

“Oh Castiel,” the dark figure started and tsked disparagingly. “The question isn’t _what_ I did to him, but rather _why_ I did it.” The figure pushed itself back from the railing, spread its long arms and shrugged nonchalantly. “And the answer to that, before you ask, is very simple. Because I fucking _can!”_ The laugh that followed was nothing but ugly.

Dean’s body went slack in Cas’ arms. “No! _Please, no_. _Dean!”_ Trembling fingers searched for a pulse. It was low, barely there, shallow and erratic, but he was still alive...barely.

Cas carefully lowered the unconscious body back on the floor, tenderly stroking Dean’s scruffy cheek for a brief moment before he stood up again, drawing himself to his full height. Gazing blue eyes glared upwards to the still broadly smiling creature, as Castiel took a step forward.

“I don’t care about your unreasonable motives, you _son of a bitch,_ ” -an inevitable side-effect of living and spending a huge amount of time with Dean- “ _What did you do to him?_ ” Cas repeated, bristling with rage. His angel blade materialized in his right hand, the pointy tip, gleaming silver, mirroring the flashing of the monster’s teeth.

“Oh c’mon, Castiel. What are you gonna do now, huh-” a malicious smirk- “ _Angel?_ ”

Cas flinched painfully at the word. Fingers gripping tighter around the cold metal of his blade, knuckles turning white. This... _thing_ couldn’t possibly know about his current state. It just couldn’t.

“What, no snarky response?” the dark figure sneered and disappeared from where it stood on the gallery on the mezzanine level.

Cas froze on the spot. Throwing frenzied looks in every direction, his panic mounted up sky-high, made every nerve ending in his body buzz with adrenaline. Where did that bastard go? He’s _gotta_ be somewh-

“Lookin’ for _me?”_

Castiel wheeled around. _Nothing_. The little hairs in the back of his neck were still tingling from the hot breath the monster whispered against the shell of his ear.

Without his angel powers he had to rely solely on his very limited human senses.

His eyes were useless, however, as the large room was only dimly lit by the moonlight shining through a thin crack in one of the boarded up windows. A metallic tinge of Dean’s blood hung in the air, nothing else.

The man held his breath to focus on his hearing. But apart from his own pulse pounding in his ears and the ragged, agonized, raspy gasps of the love of his life on the floor he couldn’t hear a damn thing.

“What’s wrong, _Angel?”_

There was that word again. This time though, it resounded from above Cas’ head and his eyes roamed over the gallery once more. And again, he couldn’t see a thing. No figure. No teeth. _Nothing._

It had been his own choice after all. He had decided to extract his grace. He had chosen to become human. He had _wanted_ this. For himself. For Dean. For _them._ But if that meant that Dean was dying now, just because Castiel had been selfish and had wanted his _happily ever after_ with his righteous man, he could never forgive himself.

“C’mon Castiel,” the voice hissed from the other side of the room, “This is getting boring.”

Anger was boiling in his stomach and spilled into a furious snarl as soon as Cas opened his mouth, “Oh yeah? How about you show yourself, you pathetic _coward_!” He quickly glanced at Dean who was still lying unconscious on the floor, blood trickling from his ears in a sluggish, nevertheless constant flow. The sight made Castiel’s heart wrench painfully.

 _Hang in there, Dean,_ he thought, sending silent prayers to a father who never listened, to brothers and sisters who abandoned him, _I’m getting us out of here. Just hold on. Please, Dean. Just hold on._

“What is it, loverboy, you gonna try and kill me now?”

This time Castiel turned around, facing the direction the voice came from, he could make out a vague shape against the silvery moonlight. The figure was baring its pointy teeth again, girdled by leathery lips that merged into the scaly black skin of the monster’s face. A dark purple tongue, forked in the front, peeked through the white teeth, leaving a glistening shimmer on the lips.

“What are you?” Cas growled, angel blade still in his hand, as he glared into dark eyes.

The monster dissolved into thin air once again, but immediately reappeared right next to Dean’s limp body on the floor, his own angel blade still loosely held in his slack hand.

“Get away from him!” the former angel barked and dashed towards their direction, causing the creature to disappear again.

It materialized back on the mezzanine level, “Easy there, Castiel, he’ll be dead soon anyway...two minutes tops. I don’t need to hurt him any more. He’s already suffering more than you could ever imagine.” The monster’s chuckle sent shivers down Cas’ spine. Or maybe it were its words. At this point it didn’t matter anymore.

“I’m asking you again,” he started, voice indefinitely deep and menacing, nostrils quivering with pure rage, _“What are you?”_

“Why does that matter, Angel? You can’t kill me. You _fool,_ you can’t even _see_ me if I don’t let you.” The creature dissipated again.

Castiel was exasperated, desperate, exhausted. He had no idea what he was dealing with. No idea how to kill it. Or how he could save Dean. How to get out of this goddamn warehouse. He swallowed thickly. Scrubbed his left hand over his face. Took a deep breath.

“Let us go,” he demanded. It was worth a try.

“Oh, where’d be the fun in that, huh?” the monster cackled. “Nuh-uh, loverboy, I’m afraid I can’t do that. As soon as my venom has spread enough, your boyfriend here-” it teleported back next to Dean- “will finally die and then,” it crouched down, stepping into a pool of blood next to Dean’s less and less heaving chest in the process. “I will eat him. And there’s _nothing_ you can do about it.”

Tears of anger and grief threatened to well up in Cas’ eyes as he watched the creature reach out a clawed hand towards Dean’s head.

 _I’m sorry, Dean,_ Castiel dropped down on his knees, only a few steps separating him from the love of his life. But it could’ve been miles just as well. He wouldn’t have been able to reach him in time. Couldn’t have done anything to save him anyway. _I’m so sorry, Dean. I’m sorry...I came too late... I love you, Dean... I’m sorry._

He watched the monster drag a long black finger across Dean’s neck, smearing through the trace of blood that was still seeping from his ear.

Cas couldn’t stop staring. _I'm so sorry, Dean... I love you..._

The creature brought its finger, now covered in Dean’s blood, up to its lips and sucked the syrupy liquid into its mouth, moaning abominably around it before it closed its eyes.

Cas stared at the monster. Then at Dean. Stared at Dean’s chest. It had stopped moving. Why wasn’t it moving? That would mean- No... _No!_ He can’t be-

Cas’ lips mouthed a silent, defeated _‘Dean’._

_I'm so sorry..._

_I came too late..._

_I love you..._

_Dean..._

The bloodcurdling death cry of the black scaled _thing_ ripped Castiel from his state of shock. He was still just staring, petrified, unable to move more than his eyelids. He blinked the blurriness from his eyes.

The first thing that came back to his focus was Dean’s back draped over the black monster. Dean’s slightly moving back. It was _moving_. He was breathing.

Dean was _alive._

The monster, on the other hand, was not. Dean’s angel blade was buried to the hilt in the creature’s chest, purple blood trickling over the scale covered skin, mixing with Dean’s blood on the floor. The pool of mixed blood was glowing purple, smokey light slowly dissolved into thin air around the two bodies in front of Castiel’s eyes.

“Dean?” Cas whispered around the lump in his throat. He finally managed to regain control over his body and stumbled three staggering steps forward before he tumbled over again. He reached a shaking hand out and grabbed Dean by his shoulder, turning him over and off of the monster.

Glistening green eyes blinked tiredly at Castiel. “Dean,” he repeated, this time in relief, silent tears falling from his eyes onto Dean’s blood-soaked flannel. He took Dean’s face in both hands again, brought their lips together forcefully.

When their mouths parted after a kiss that said more than words ever could, Cas let his forehead rest against Dean’s and they just breathed in synch for a few minutes.

Dean stirred beneath him and the former angel lifted his head to look at the other man’s face.

A barely there smile greeted him, voice weak and grating. “Hiya Cas.”


End file.
